274: To choose or not to choose
Today we're diving into the idea of consciously choosing not to do something, and giving yourself a huge permission slip!
Episode transcript:
Good morning, daily peppers, and a very happy Friday to you. It's the end of the week. We made it. The weekend is nearly here, and if you need a big old dollop of permission, you're in the right place now. I shared earlier in the week how intention is my word for the year. And as I started really building on my own habits and routines, there's been one conversation that just keeps popping up again and again, and it's this notion of choice. The choice whether to do something, whether not to do something, and everything in between. Now, when we start to think about choice and making decisions, most of the time we're focusing on things that we're choosing to do or things we want to do, but we very rarely have discussions about the things we choose not to do.
This came up for me really recently in a conversation with my therapist when we were diving into avoidance behaviors. And she said something that has really stuck with me and I really want to share with you because I think it might be really helpful. I'm probably gonna butcher what she said, but she said there's a difference between not doing something and consciously choosing not to do it. And when she said that, a light bulb just went off in my head and it was like a whole shitload of permission. It's this idea that, yeah, we can choose not to do things, but make sure you're consciously choosing them rather than acting on autopilot or not questioning any of your choices. This comes up for me a lot around snoozing my alarm clock. And something really started to change when I realized that I could just consciously choose to ignore my alarm clock and go back to sleep. And in the conscious choosing, I was choosing in that moment to be more compassionate and to let go of any of that guilt or shame or beating myself up or berating myself and all that negative self talk.
And I could actually make peace with that decision, own it, and go back to sleep, not beating myself up. So this weekend, I really invite you to consciously choose if there's something that you feel like you should be doing but you don't want to do, rather than just not do it, consciously choose not to do it. Write yourself a permission slip, make peace with it, and own it. Because we've all been there where we're procrastinating and we're avoiding doing something. And even though we might go and put the telly on or go and read a book, we can't really concentrate on it because at the back of our head, we just have this nagging feeling and we know what we're meant to be doing, that if you consciously choose not to do something, something just starts to shift. You can be more present with yourself rather than beating yourself up and it's just a whole lot more compassionate. So try it on for size, see what you think. Give it a go.
And here's to being more compassionate with yourself. Because no matter how kind you treat yourself, we can always, always do with more compassion and things that actively rally against our inner dream shutters. So give it a go. I hope you have a fabulous weekend and you get to do something for you. And remember that if you missed a daily perfume the weekend, you can sign up to my Letters of Rebellion, which are my Sunday emails where I share different things I'm working on, things I'm reading, things I'm learning about, and generally the behind the scenes of me creating my creative, wholehearted everyday life in the hopes that there might be something in there that helps you build yours. You can get them by going to the rebelrousers.com and clicking on Sunday Emails, or you can click the handy link in the Show Notes. So I look forward to seeing you either on Sunday on your inbox or Monday in your earbuds. And I look forward to seeing you then. Have a good one.
Episode transcript produced automatically by Castmagic.io
ABOUT THE DAILY PEP!
New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT
A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!
The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women. If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.
Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines
MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!
